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“You’re looking real damn good, kid,” George replied as a smile broke the tension on his face. Poor guy expected me to start a fucking fight. “Quit eating all those donuts?”
“Oh, fuck no,” I said.
“Declan.” He nodded to my brother. “How’s the fiancé? Not wandering off too much in her sleep?”
I watched my brother draw in a deep breath as if taking a moment to mind his manners. Not that I blamed him. What a fucking question to ask.
“We’re doing just fine, George,” Declan told him.
“It’s the damnedest thing, I tell you.” George’s attention snapped right back to me. “I get a call about a dead body one night, and it turns out to be his fiancé—”
“We don’t need to be Esther and Vera, now do we, George?” I cut in. Not because of Declan’s sake but rather for Raven’s. There was no need for the fucking gossip. She had enough shit going on without the people of Cedar Harbor being dicks. “There’s better things in town to talk about. Got it?”
“Like your father-in-law showing up at my station every few days?” he asked. Fucking Phillip. “He ain’t happy about you being back, kid. I’d watch your back. Preacher or not, I know he’d be the first to stab you in the back.”
“I meant, tell us about what you fucking found, George. You’re stalling.”
“On purpose.” With a sigh, he peeled away from his car. “Look, I’ll be real honest with you, kid. I come out this way to take a damn nap. My son and his wife moved in with us, which means their kids moved in with us. Now, I love my grandkids, but I did my damn time. And that baby, she screams all night.”
“Grandpa’s tired. Got it.”
“Pop-pop’s real damn tired,” George agreed. “Anyway, I come this way to nap. Only today… we don’t have natural wolves that look like this one, kid. I know that much. Right?”
“Right,” I assured him. George was human. Back when my dad was alive, he’d stumbled across our pack’s secret and said nothing to anyone. George was good like that—always had been. He kept us safe and updated when shit popped up that would affect the pack. And when the shit hit the fucking fan with Phillip and fucked with my job, George had been nice enough to let me go due to budget constraints so I could get another job as a cop whenever I wanted. Not that I had some burning desire to be a cop again. “Just show us what you found, George. We’ll take it from here.”
“This way.” He gestured with his chin for Declan and me to follow. We did with everyone else close behind us. George rounded the front of his vehicle where a black tarp was thrown over the wolf in question. “I’m staying right here, kid. I can’t see that thing again.”
“It’s all good, George.” Declan clapped him on the shoulder. “We appreciate it.”
And so we stood there for a solid minute, staring at one another. No one made a move toward the body in the dirt. I realized I was the only one with any experience with dead bodies, which meant I was the only one who’d go near it.
“If you feel like you’re going to throw up, do it on the road,” I ordered. “No one goes any closer. You’ll contaminate my scene. Got it?”
Murmurs and mutters followed. Yeah, definitely didn’t have to worry about any of them fucking with my goddamn scene. Before I even moved, I closed my eyes and dipped into my wolf senses. Just for a moment. I needed an assessment of the situation.
No sounds outside of the ordinary—just the usual creatures in the forests. The coppery scent of blood filled the air, mixing with wet soil and wild woods. At least there were no additional fucking surprises waiting for us. This was as bad as it’d get.
I studied the dirt as I took slow steps. No disturbances. No shoe prints. Nothing out of the ordinary. I frowned. Odd. Whoever had done this was damn good at covering their tracks. That didn’t bode well for solving this quickly.
While some might’ve taken the time to ease into the situation, that wasn’t me. I tossed back the tarp. Behind me, Finn gagged.
“Road!” I barked, pointing. Jesus fuck. The kid barely made it there before vomiting.
Not that I blamed him. Fucking hell, the person who’d done this was a fucking monster. The wolf in question was a dusty blonde in color—fur on the longer side—and faded blue eyes frozen wide open. My heart fucking sank. There were only three wolves I could think of with that eye color.
“Fuck,” Declan said. “The Harveys.”
“Fuck…” I echoed. I crouched as I forced myself to face the real situation. The wolf’s underbelly was ripped open, organs spilling into the dirt. I whispered, “I’m sorry.”
With that, I reached out and lifted a back paw for the most invasive look I could get. It felt wrong—unbelievably wrong—but it was necessary. Definitely not Connor.
“Did anyone see Charlotte or Cecelia last night? This morning?” Declan demanded.
“They left early,” Nolan replied. “I think they said they were going to the ranch today. Family day.”
Family day. Fuck, we had to figure out who this was before we talked to the Harveys. God, this was a fucking mess.
I tuned them out and focused on what I knew I could do. My head cocked to the side as I took in the wound. There was something… off about it. Careful to not end up in blood, I lowered myself to the ground in an attempt to get a better look.
